Algeria: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised that parliamentary elections on May 4 will be fair and free, urging people to vote in order to actively contribute to the stability of the country. (Xinhua)

Libya: The Coast Guard seized two foreign-flagged oil tankers and detained their crews for allegedly smuggling fuel after an hours-long gunbattle off the west coast. (AFP)

Mali: The country extended a state of emergency by six months, until October 31, as the nation battles a jihadist insurgency. (AFP)

AMERICAS

Brazil: Acts of vandalism and violence erupted during a nationwide anti-austerity general strike, the first in more than two decades. (EFE)

Colombia: Authorities have arrested 15 people believed to be part of country’s dominant Gulf Cartel. (AFP)

Colombia: Police killed drug lord known as ”Zorro” in an operation in an area formerly dominated by left-wing FARC rebels. (DPA)

Chile: The center-left governing coalition split ahead of November election, likely boosting the chances of a victory for the right. (Reuters)

Venezuela: A top opposition figure Freddy Guevara called for more marches aimed at taking back the courts and the National Electoral Council. (AFP)

ASIA

Region: South Korea and the United States wrapped up their annual large-scale military drills, but continued a separate joint naval exercise that triggered threats from North Korea. (AFP)

Region: ASEAN leaders urged North Korea to comply with its international obligations, voicing concerns over Pyongyang’s test-firing of mid-range ballistic missiles. (Xinhua)

Afghanistan: Forty-three armed militants were killed during the latest military operation across several provinces. (Xinhua)

Pakistan: Under pressure from the military, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ousted two of his top officials over leaks to the news media of a meeting at which civilian leaders confronted the military over its alleged reluctance to halt Islamist groups in the country. (NYT)

EUROPE

Region: Europe’s energy commissioner is leading more than 50 European firms in a business forum in Iran. (Reuters)

Russia: Hundreds of people participated in a peaceful protest in Moscow calling for Putin to step down. (Reuters)

Turkey: Ankara expelled more than 3,900 more people from the civil service and military calling them threats to national security; this is the second major purge since Erdogan was granted new powers by popular referendum. (Reuters)

MIDDLE EAST

Syria: At least 95 people have been killed amid fighting that erupted near Damascus this week among rival rebel groups, with fatalities including 87 rebel fighters and eight civilians. (DPA)

Syria: A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance is advancing against the Islamic State group in the key town of Tabqa near the jihadist bastion of Raqqa in northern Syria. (AFP)

Colombia: FARC rebels intend to surrender another 30% of their weapons

India: Maharashtra Day – 1960

Iraq: Anniversary of US President George W. Bush announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq – 2003

United States: Anniversary of US President Barack Obama announcing that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on 02MAY.